Chemical and Process Technology Encyclopedia

As an editor for a technical magazine,I work with journalist looking for a simple text to answer the question: "Hey, what is a centrifuge?" or "How is latex polymer manufactured?" Here is the book! It is laid out alphabetically describing equipment and processes in terms of figures, pictures and PFDs. It is way ahead of its time (I have an old 1974 version.)in presenting figures, which give the perfect overview. For example, on page 451, under evaporation, Figure E-29 breaks down all versions of long-tube evaporators. On page 486, Figure F-3 shows the direct melt process flow for producing fiber glass. Figure H-5 shows a PFD for hydroforming. This is a must book for a chemical engineer starting out, or as a loaner to non-engineers. When I loaned it to the managing editor, he had no trouble discussing an article in detail with an author submitting an article on centrifuges. The only reason for 4 stars is that, like most good books in chemical engineering, the golden era seems to be between 1950 (Kern: Process Heat Transfer) and 1979.